Quickstart: Create an Azure API Management instance using Terraform
APPLIES TO: Developer | Standard | Premium
This article shows how to use Terraform to create an API Management instance on Azure. You can also use Terraform for common management tasks such as importing APIs in your API Management instance.
Azure API Management helps organizations publish APIs to external, partner, and internal developers to unlock the potential of their data and services. API Management provides the core competencies to ensure a successful API program through developer engagement, business insights, analytics, security, and protection. With API Management, create and manage modern API gateways for existing backend services hosted anywhere.
Terraform enables the definition, preview, and deployment of cloud infrastructure. Using Terraform, you create configuration files using HCL syntax. The HCL syntax allows you to specify the cloud provider - such as Azure - and the elements that make up your cloud infrastructure. After you create your configuration files, you create an execution plan that allows you to preview your infrastructure changes before they're deployed. Once you verify the changes, you apply the execution plan to deploy the infrastructure.
In this article, you learn how to:
- Create a random pet name for the Azure resource group name using random_pet
- Create an Azure resource group using azurerm_resource_group
- Create a random string for the Azure API Management service name using random_string
- Create an Azure API Management service using azurerm_api_management
Prerequisites
If you don't have an Azure subscription, create a free account before you begin.
For Azure CLI:
Use the Bash environment in Azure Cloud Shell. For more information, see Quickstart for Bash in Azure Cloud Shell.
If you prefer to run CLI reference commands locally, install the Azure CLI. If you're running on Windows or macOS, consider running Azure CLI in a Docker container. For more information, see How to run the Azure CLI in a Docker container.
If you're using a local installation, sign in to the Azure CLI by using the az login command. To finish the authentication process, follow the steps displayed in your terminal. For other sign-in options, see Sign in with the Azure CLI.
When you're prompted, install the Azure CLI extension on first use. For more information about extensions, see Use extensions with the Azure CLI.
Run az version to find the version and dependent libraries that are installed. To upgrade to the latest version, run az upgrade.
For Azure PowerShell:
- If you choose to use Azure PowerShell locally:
- Install the latest version of the Az PowerShell module.
- Connect to your Azure account using the Connect-AzAccount cmdlet.
- If you choose to use Azure Cloud Shell:
- See Overview of Azure Cloud Shell for more information.
- If you choose to use Azure PowerShell locally:
Implement the Terraform code
Note
The sample code for this article is located in the Azure Terraform GitHub repo. You can view the log file containing the test results from current and previous versions of Terraform.
See more articles and sample code showing how to use Terraform to manage Azure resources
Create a directory in which to test and run the sample Terraform code and make it the current directory.
Create a file named
main.tf
and insert the following code:resource "random_pet" "rg_name" { prefix = var.resource_group_name_prefix } resource "azurerm_resource_group" "rg" { name = random_pet.rg_name.id location = var.resource_group_location } resource "random_string" "azurerm_api_management_name" { length = 13 lower = true numeric = false special = false upper = false } resource "azurerm_api_management" "api" { name = "apiservice${random_string.azurerm_api_management_name.result}" location = azurerm_resource_group.rg.location resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name publisher_email = var.publisher_email publisher_name = var.publisher_name sku_name = "${var.sku}_${var.sku_count}" }
Create a file named
outputs.tf
and insert the following code:output "resource_group_name" { value = azurerm_resource_group.rg.name } output "api_management_service_name" { value = azurerm_api_management.api.name }
Create a file named
providers.tf
and insert the following code:terraform { required_version = ">=1.0" required_providers { azurerm = { source = "hashicorp/azurerm" version = "~>3.0" } random = { source = "hashicorp/random" version = "~>3.0" } } } provider "azurerm" { features {} }
Create a file named
variables.tf
and insert the following code:variable "resource_group_location" { type = string default = "eastus" description = "Location for all resources." } variable "resource_group_name_prefix" { type = string default = "rg" description = "Prefix of the resource group name that's combined with a random ID so name is unique in your Azure subscription." } variable "publisher_email" { default = "test@contoso.com" description = "The email address of the owner of the service" type = string validation { condition = length(var.publisher_email) > 0 error_message = "The publisher_email must contain at least one character." } } variable "publisher_name" { default = "publisher" description = "The name of the owner of the service" type = string validation { condition = length(var.publisher_name) > 0 error_message = "The publisher_name must contain at least one character." } } variable "sku" { description = "The pricing tier of this API Management service" default = "Developer" type = string validation { condition = contains(["Developer", "Standard", "Premium"], var.sku) error_message = "The sku must be one of the following: Developer, Standard, Premium." } } variable "sku_count" { description = "The instance size of this API Management service." default = 1 type = number validation { condition = contains([1, 2], var.sku_count) error_message = "The sku_count must be one of the following: 1, 2." } }
Initialize Terraform
Run terraform init to initialize the Terraform deployment. This command downloads the Azure provider required to manage your Azure resources.
terraform init -upgrade
Key points:
- The
-upgrade
parameter upgrades the necessary provider plugins to the newest version that complies with the configuration's version constraints.
Create a Terraform execution plan
Run terraform plan to create an execution plan.
terraform plan -out main.tfplan
Key points:
- The
terraform plan
command creates an execution plan, but doesn't execute it. Instead, it determines what actions are necessary to create the configuration specified in your configuration files. This pattern allows you to verify whether the execution plan matches your expectations before making any changes to actual resources. - The optional
-out
parameter allows you to specify an output file for the plan. Using the-out
parameter ensures that the plan you reviewed is exactly what is applied.
Apply a Terraform execution plan
Run terraform apply to apply the execution plan to your cloud infrastructure.
terraform apply main.tfplan
Key points:
- The example
terraform apply
command assumes you previously ranterraform plan -out main.tfplan
. - If you specified a different filename for the
-out
parameter, use that same filename in the call toterraform apply
. - If you didn't use the
-out
parameter, callterraform apply
without any parameters.
Note
It can take 30 to 40 minutes to create and activate an API Management service.
Verify the results
Get the Azure resource group name.
resource_group_name=$(terraform output -raw resource_group_name)
Get the service name.
api_management_service_name=$(terraform output -raw api_management_service_name)
Run az apim show to display information about the new service.
az apim show --resource-group $resource_group_name \ --name $api_management_service_name
Clean up resources
When you no longer need the resources created via Terraform, do the following steps:
Run terraform plan and specify the
destroy
flag.terraform plan -destroy -out main.destroy.tfplan
Key points:
- The
terraform plan
command creates an execution plan, but doesn't execute it. Instead, it determines what actions are necessary to create the configuration specified in your configuration files. This pattern allows you to verify whether the execution plan matches your expectations before making any changes to actual resources. - The optional
-out
parameter allows you to specify an output file for the plan. Using the-out
parameter ensures that the plan you reviewed is exactly what is applied.
- The
Run terraform apply to apply the execution plan.
terraform apply main.destroy.tfplan
Troubleshoot Terraform on Azure
Troubleshoot common problems when using Terraform on Azure